Serious fun: Ministry works hard to help children play

Tuesday

Sep 25, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 25, 2007 at 3:50 PM

Kids Around the World may be nicknamed "The Playground People" because of all the brightly colored playgrounds its volunteers have erected. They also might be called "The Flannelgraph Folks," because those familiar storytelling aids are just as important a tool to this Rockford-based ministry.

Edith C. Webster

Kids Around the World may be nicknamed "The Playground People" because of all the brightly colored playgrounds its volunteers have erected.

They also might be called "The Flannelgraph Folks," because those familiar storytelling aids are just as important a tool to this Rockford-based ministry.

"Kids don't learn in black and white, like adults," said volunteer coordinator Chris Marshall. "In some countries, when we come in with the flannelgraph, it's like a little TV, because it's so colorful and interactive. The Bible comes to life."

As Kids Around the World prepares for its 11th annual fundraising banquet Oct. 4, the ministry is just four shy of assembling its 100th playground.

Founded in 1994 under the leadership of Rockford businessman Dennis Johnson, Kids Around the World's mission was to provide "safe play" and show the love of God to children.

From war-torn countries like Sarajevo to hurricane-ravaged communities of the Gulf Coast, to Rockford's own neighborhoods to the most recent site, Ecuador, the playgrounds have opened the door to children's ministry.

Kids Around the World has shown 5,000 Sunday school teachers and other adults how to use flannelgraphs and puppets to tell children Bible stories.

The flannelgraph, which has been used in churches since the 1950s, consists of a large board covered with material and painted with a background scene. The teacher places figures of people, animals and objects made of the same material on the board to illustrate the story.

Ministry staffers and volunteers manufacture the vibrant teaching aids with equipment in the Rockford office, then ship them out to international sites.

The resources and training are the same, but teachers are encouraged to tailor it to their culture -- adding their music or geography.

"That's the beauty of it," Marshall said. "We teach the same class, but if you're on an island where they sing a lot, they do that. It's cross-cultural. Jesus was cross-cultural."

The flannelgraphs and the playgrounds may not seem like very weighty responses to the environment some of these children live in, but the Kids Around the World approach is to offer hope and spark change through young people.

"If we are going to make a difference," said ministry President Jim Rosene, "children must become a priority."